A Pink Little Girl’s Room
It was time to move our daughter, who is almost 3, into a bigger room. […]
It was time to move our daughter, who is almost 3, into a bigger room. This meant clearing out the ‘junk room’. I hate calling it that but that’s what it became after I had to my ‘office’ into the spare room to create the nursery.
(This was the room after many days of sorting and purging)
Well, it was quite the tedious task, going through boxes of papers, mementos and old clothes but, we got it done. With the room cleared, we could start redecorating.
The 9’X11′ room started as a two-toned grey room which was not offensive except for the two large white stripes where shelves used to be … before the former owner sneaked them out on moving day!
I wanted to go with Robin’s Egg Blue and paint whimsical scenes in white on the wall. Emily, however, said “I want a pink room!”
I dreaded a pink room. All I could think of was bright pink and Disney princesses. But, her godmother, my best friend Michelle, is a decorating wiz. She said “Let me plan it! It’ll be a room that she can grow into so you don’t have to repaint in 3 years.”
My husband did the tedious work of taking down the plate rail and the painted-over wallpaper trim, filling in holes, reinforcing the closet shelf etc.
Michelle scouted HomeSense for the accent pieces. She went with light peachy pink and grey as the two main colours. She found a cushion and print that went well together and then picked a beautiful Benjamin Moore paint colour called Sun Kissed Peach.
We bought the bed on sale at Jysk. The plan was to get a similar daybed from IKEA but, when we saw it in person, it was rather tall/ high off the ground. The Jysk bed was a little more complicated to put together than anything IKEA I’ve ever done. (I mean, I had to use screws and a screw driver! ha!) but it’s just the right size and the storage underneath is great! The drawers are actually not attached to the bed and can come out completely.
The rug was the most expensive purchase at $299 plus tax! Yikes! I could have put hardwood down in the room for that, I’m sure! But, it fit the colour scheme and it is a unique wool rug so, I snatched it up before I could change my mind. I wanted a rug right away because the cheap laminate floor had a large, frayed bubble in the middle as though someone had spilled water and not cleaned it up for 2 days.
I bought a $10 end from a carpet store to put in the closet. It replaced the disgusting green stuff that was in there before. (You know, I probably could have bought a carpet end big enough for the whole room for $20!).
I bought 6-slot shelf unit from Home Depot. It was on for $29 which was a much better deal than a 3 shelf unit for $23! The little boxes were made for the unit and cost $7 each. We added a small set of drawers have been my husband’s since he was boy. This was our compromise to having an expensive tall dresser or a full closet organizer.
I am showing you the room unfinished. I love how, in magazines, they always have perfectly done rooms with everything just so. But, in real life, it doesn’t always get done right away.
We still plan on buying a little white side table and I have a small silver toned lamp base on which we will put coral/peach shade. In the meantime: a large ugly lamp on a printer table! And, the empty corner behind the door will be filled with a book shelf!
The bedding below is also not what Michelle originally picked out. It was a grey comforter with white solid butterflies. It looked great but, upon opening the package, the filling felt crunchy and cheap so we returned it and went with the old spread. It works.
We are still deciding whether the painting (below) , which my husband did years ago, will go in the room. The colours go with the wall colour but might ‘clash’ with the bright “Life is Beautiful Print” on the opposite wall (above). What do you think?
When we started this project, our daughter was very upset about having to move rooms. She would start to cry whenever I mentioned she would have a new room. But, once we started clearing out the room and painting it, her tone changed. She started calling it her ‘big girl’ room and would bring guests to show them, even before it was finished. (When it was empty, it echoed and she particularly like that!)
Success! A pink little girl’s room that will grow with her!
